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A pair of
large whales were spotted today (Monday) entangled in the same buoy line in
Uyak Bay. The whales were first seen by Kevin Van Hatten, a biologist
and pilot for the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. He said the whales were performing something of a tug-of-war, trying to swim away from each other.

Uyak Bay is
about 30 miles long and nearly bisects Kodiak Island about 60 miles southwest
of the city of Kodiak.

It was
unclear if whale disentanglement specialists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been dispatched to the scene
as of late this afternoon.

Van Hatten
said the line the whales are tangled in could have been from fishing gear, perhaps from a crab pot buoy that they could have dragged in from elsewhere.

Van Hatten
says there are several pods of whales in the bay, with a handful staying nearby
the two tangled up in the line. He said he wasn’t sure, but thinks they are fin
whales, which can grow to about 80 feet.